So I was at the grocery store yesterday, picking up some stuff for dinner with my in-laws tonight. I decided to pick up some cod (it was on sale), when I caught a glimpse of some pistachio encrusted Salmon for sale. I asked my fish guy if I could coat the cod with the pistachios or if the nuts’d overwhelm the subtleness of the fish.

“Nah,” he said. “I usually recommend a little garlic mixed into Panko for cod – but why not? Try the pistachios. That’s all that is on the salmon – a little pistachios chopped up and mixed into panko.”

“I could do that,” I replied.

“OF COURSE you could do that. Anyone could do that – but most people don’t want to, so there you go. We make money and you’re a satisfied customer. But you, you could totally try this at home, save yourself some money.”

And so I did.

For dinner tonight I have 2 large and 1 small fillets of cod (feeding 4 adults and 2 toddlers) that I encrusted with a mix of 1 cup shelled pistachios (I chopped them up in the mini chopper thingie) and 1 cup of panko breadcrumbs. I dried off the fish, laid them out on foil, shpritzed them with some cooking spray and pressed the panko/nut mix on. Knowing I’ll need to flip the fish halfway through, I coated both sides with the nuts/breading.

I served the fish with a green salad and the lentils I made a few days back.

End Result? DEVOURED, though C and I thought it needed a touch of salt. C suggested that next time (and there WILL be a next time) I should sprinkle a little grated parmesan over the top after I flipped the fish.

Toddler Review: R ate it by the handful – until she realized we were paying attention to her, and little J had THIRDS. “More Please” he kept saying!

That **SO** rocks!

*clapping*

Pistachio Encrusted Cod by Me

Printable Recipe HERE

Dairy-FREE, Toddler-Approved

Ingredients:

About 3lbs. of Cod (though any fish would probably be really good)

1 cup Pistachios, ground **I used the mini grinder, but feel free to chop them roughly if you don’t wash another thing. *grin*

1 cup Panko breadcrumbs

Pam or Cooking Spray

(2 Tablespoons Grated or Shredded Parmesan, if using)

Crispy and slightly nutty

How To:

1- Dry your fish and lay out on foil. Turn your broiler on.

2- Mix the nuts and breadcrumbs together in a bowl.

3- Shpritz with the Pam/Cooking Spray and spoon the nut-crumb mix over the top. Press in with your fingers and gently flip the fish over. Shpritz and crumb side 2. **Though, now that I think about it… you can totally wait to top side two until you flip it while it’s cooking. *shrugging shoulders* Maybe I’ll remember to do that next time.

4- Whack the pan under the broiler for 10-15 minutes, flipping halfway through. After the flip, if you’re using cheese, sprinkle it on now!

Serve immediately!

TOTALLY Toddler Approved